Video: Pictures worth a thousand words

The Museum's collections contain up to half a million artworks. Explore a selection of some of the finest and see how techniques for making a visual record of the natural world have developed since the 17th century.

In the video, Museum researchers and curators discuss the importance of the historical images and the state-of-the-art imaging used today.

Artists and scientists have been inspired by the natural world for centuries. Images capture nature in ways that complement the words and data of science. Illustrations and paintings give instantly understandable and memorable pictures that communicate something of their subject’s essential nature.

But art isn’t the whole picture. Imaging techniques have developed in sync with science so that today we also benefit from advanced photographic tools and incredibly sophisticated imaging technology.

Voyages of scientific exploration around the world became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. When they returned, explorers brought with them a wealth of imagery portraying the people and places they visited.